Field of the Invention
The invention concerns repair of automotive radiators and more particularly concerns fixturing and hand tools for recoring radiators.
In the course of repairing such radiators, a recoring is often found to be necessary in which the tube-and-fin "core" of the radiator is removed from the top and bottom tanks. Conventional radiator construction includes a tank joined to the core by means of a header which receives the core tubes and forms the bottom of the tank when the tank is mounted within the header. The most common radiator construction currently employed includes a brass tank which is soldered to the header and in recoring the radiator, the soldered joint is loosened for removal of the tank, and upon recoring, the tank is placed into the header and the solder connection rerun.
Recently there has developed a trend towards replacement of the brass tank with a plastic tank mechanically joined to the header. The plastic tank is positioned against a gasket received in a header recess, a tank flange compressed against the gasket and secured in position with a series of tabs formed integrally with the header, which are bent down to retain the tank compressed against the gasket.
Radiator repair shops have for the most part relied on impromptu fixturing for conducting these operations.
Reassembly of the brass tank to the header has often involved difficulties due to deformation of the tank bottom or slight irregularities in the header recess receiving the tank lip, such that degree of pressure is necessary in order to get the tank to properly seat. In addition, there sometimes exists excessive clearance between the tank lip and the header tank recess, in turn, resulting in a weaker solder joint. The handling of the disassembly and reassembly of the tank and radiator core and header is relatively difficult and slows completion of the recoring.
Plastic tank designs have presented their own peculiar problems in recoring, particularly in crimping and decrimping of the tabs while properly insuring a seal of the tank bottom against the gasket and the header.
The crimped tabs are difficult to loosen because they are often jammed tightly into the plastic tank flange, with minimal clearance between the tank side wall and the tab end, making it difficult to obtain insertion of a tool for decrimping. The compression of the tank against the gasket further aggravates the problem due to the tightness with which the tabs are forced against the tank flange.
To obtain a proper seal between the header and tank is also troublesome since, if the header recess receiving the gasket is deformed, leakage will often occur. Such deforming can be inflicted by the decrimping operation or the subsequent crimping operation due to pressure exerted by hand tools on the outer edge of the header.
In addition, the entire tank crimping and decrimping operations are relatively time consuming, thereby increasing the cost of labor to recore.
Previous attempts at improving fixturing have generally not alleviated the time problem and involve relatively costly fixturing which has not successfully speeded up the disassembly or assembly steps. It has also not satisfactorily handled the problem of insuring leak free connections from the tank to the header.
In addition, those in the radiator repair industry are faced with the task of being prepared to repair efficiently both the conventional brass tank and the newer plastic tank radiator recoring.
Such plastic tanks are, in the United States, only now beginning to be found in numbers, but ultimately may account for the bulk of radiator repairs.
In the interim both types of radiators will necessarily need to be accommodated. Such fixturing device being relatively costly, it represents a sizable capital investment for businesses having the limited financial resources of a typical radiator repair shop, and it is important that any fixturing intended for that application be adaptable to both tank mounting styles.
The decrimping and crimping tools heretofore employed have either been conventional hand tools such as vise grips pressed into service for this purpose or have been specially designed pneumatic tools. In the case of the conventional hand tools, these do not efficiently perform the crimping and decrimping operations and therefore require excessive labor. The pneumatic tools, on the other hand, are relatively difficult to control and often apply excessive force to the tab due to a lack of "feel" associated with their manipulation.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide fixturing for recoring of radiators which is adaptable to both conventional and plastic tank construction and which further is adaptable to the wide variety of radiator tank sizes and configurations that exist such that a simple universal fixture can be employed to be useful in recoring radiators of all types.
A further object of the present invention is to provide such fixturing which greatly facilitates the recoring operation of both metal and plastic tank radiator construction.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide decrimping and crimping hand tools for use with the fixturing in order to efficiently and rapidly conduct the crimping and decrimping steps incidental to recoring of the plastic tanks.